I hope someone calls and asks why the "Newbie's Guide to Publishing" author is now reluctant to advise other people to do what he's currently doing (posting entire books on the web, self-publishing Kindle and POD versions). Is it the New Way to be published or not?

"I've never told people what to do on this blog. I've shown what I've done, and then told writers to set their own goals.

We all have our own paths to follow, and we need to come upon those paths ourselves, not because a yahoo with a blog tells them "do this" or "don't do that.""

Agreed. But I sense a new reluctancy. Not long ago (last year) you were saying that only bad writers and amateurs would consider going to lulu or iuniverse or whatever. So you were sure to tell people don't do it, that if you had a worthwhile book it was worth getting NY to take it on. Now all of a sudden that's changed and you don't want to tell people how to get published the right way. You don't even advise people to post their novels on their sites like you do. So I don't get the sudden change. Is it because you're still figuring out the "new" way yourself and don't want to tell someone else how until you have it worked out? Or is it that you only know what worked for you? If the latter, this isn't much of a "guide" then. More like an account of how one person's path worked out.

Must get wearisome sometimes, Joe, getting accusatory attitudes from uninformed people who don't follow your blog closely enough to realize the accusations made are false and the questions already answered. Your evolving thinking is well documented concerning the issues raised by anon 1.

Freud's id roams free in cyberspace, and the id is so often ugly. Signing off for now. Got a hankering for the civility of meatspace ...

"Your evolving thinking is well documented concerning the issues raised by anon 1."

Please show it, "anon" 2.

I am just saying that Joe was against POD until he started doing it now. (I remain against POD but have an interest in this Kindle stuff.) And Joe is author of a "Newbie's Guide" which implies that he tells newbies what to do to get happily published. I have a copy. It DEFINTELY tells you what to do, tells you what works and what doesn't, tells you how to operate. He advises to not included SASEs in queries and submissions ... I have NEVER seen that advice given anywhere and it has been refuted in many places (however I think Joe is right about it and I have updated my submission process accordingly).

But my point is that now (UNLIKE before) Joe does not want to tell anyone how to do it, how to get published. This blog can't really be called a "newbie's guide" then, can it?

No accusatory attitude, either. You're just paranoid. (Why I don't know.) I'm just curious about this one thing and that post on the other thread really caught my eye, because I thought that person had a great question. Should aspiring authors post their entire books online, self-publish with Kindle and POD or should they not? After all, there's a lot of newbies out there who want to know and are looking for a guide!

In the past, self-pubbing could hurt your career. It was an overpriced, unreturnable, inferior product that cost the author money. Plus, once you have an ISBN, the numbers follow you, and make it unlikely for you to get a big book deal with a big publisher.

Recently, ebooks took away all of those concerns.

In my case, I'm making enough on ebooks that I'm willing to try POD, because I no longer care about any of the above.

Now I'm supposed to tell authors, "Go ahead and stop looking for a publisher, and instead go the ebook/POD route." No way. But if you want advice, here it is:

If you're making over $10k a month on ebooks, go ahead and release those in print as well using Createspace, as long as you're planning to never sell those books to a big publisher.

Anyway, Joe's said a lot of things on this blog that seem to contradict, but the reality is that his beliefs are changing. At least that's what I've seen.

Look, I made $45,000 working as an accountant for the State of CA. It was a really good job, and my boss was great. After tax, benefit costs, flex plan, etc, my take-home pay was exactly 2008.00 per month.

I make that in 7 days publishing with POD. And now I've set up a C Corp so I can run all my own benefit costs through it (legally).

I'm basically still an accountant. I just write about it, rather than actually do it 40 hours per week. It's basically the same thing, but I'm making more money and working from home. When my son gets sick, I get to stay home with him, and it's a non-issue. Writing is a very family-friendly activity.

So my argument is-- if you can do what you love, make more money, and work from home, why wouldn't you at least TRY to self-publish? Do it under a pen name... just try it. You might like it.

Well... you make them mad or glad. Great news and audio. I for one love the E-book world, it is now paying all my bills and to be a unknown author in the scheme of things and be able to make a living and support 3 kids and a wife is something in my book. What authors can do that with E-books? Find what works for you and go with it, and who care what the rest of the world thinks.

I am a independent publisher and because of my own sales i have some "big guys" wanting to take my series from me, and I say... "Make a offer, and it better be big or why would I give up my sales for a loss... just saying.

Wonderful show. Very insightful comments from all of the authors involved. Just goes to show that the decision to e-publish or not isn't a cookie-cutter option. What works for some may not work for others. But, at the end of the day, it is a great option for writers. And this is what the industry should have always been about...writers.

Great radio conversation! I didn't get the chance to ask my question, so I'm hoping we can discuss it here on your blog:

What role do you think the online book review sites play in helping to establish a self-published author? I'm hearing that 80% of all book buyers peruse these sites and read the book reviews. For those of you already self-publishing, do you find sending review copies to these sites has helped you? Have you encountered any negative attitudes toward self-published ebooks? Do you recommend trying to get these sites to review your ebooks?

Alright! Thanks, CJ. This is my lucky day. Just noticed that Amazon is spelling my name right finally (after two weeks). I had resigned myself to the misspelling, but was in a quandary as to how I would spell it for future books, and had considered using the pen name: Eat Shit.

Fortunately I can continue to use my real name, and not confuse anyone.

PJ, I sent out 10 paper copies when I moved to Createspace and Kindle. I think I got ONE review--cost me $100 to send. Now I don't even waste my time, because that's not even my audience.

there's a serious shortage of blogs willing to try indie ebooks. Right now the lure of cases of ARCs keeps most bloggers happily pimping the same bestsellers at the same time, but that will surely change as the landscape changes. Red Adept, Kindle Obsessed, and others are taking up the baton.

I am doing a 90-day blog tour starting in September (I'll be here at Joe's on Sept. 3) and focusing on blogs that highlight indie or ebooks, or at least consider them. While I am giving away a paper book at each stop, I also have a cool digital giveaway going.

For ANON up there, all I have to say is, those who don't change their opinions based on new information will be the ones still trying to get a major publishing deal in five years because it's the only "real" publishing. I change my mind daily on this stuff because it's changing so rapidly I want to be a five years ahead.

Unless you're book is a huge hit, publishers won't want it, and it will be an impossible sell to the chains.

This is true, although there have been some rare exceptions, like The Christmas Box, and Christopher Paolini's books.

Once you self-publish a book, it's published. That's it. It's very difficult to backpedal from that, although I suspect that Joe will end up with a few previously self-pubbed books that will eventually get sold to big publishers. This happens when the books are such a huge hit that they are impossible to ignore, or once he gets a movie deal. Sometimes the money is just too good to pass up (I assume).

I worked for a small-press publisher in the past, and several of our books were later picked up by Tor, Random House, et al. So I don't believe having an ISBN precludes an author from "reselling" the book to one of the Big 6. It is true your sales will be tracked by BookScan, but if you can convince an editor your project has the potential of pulling in much larger sales, I'd say you have a shot.

I imagine they'll make money either direct from the writer by selling 'services' to "polish and refine" the, or through referral fees for such services. The idea of putting manuscripts in a central place is not a new one. Seems like Writer Beware did something on it recently. The general consensus is, it's a waste of time because publishers already receive all the agented manuscripts they can handle, so there's no way they're going to invest any time sorting through a database of unagented manuscripts. I agree it's odd for Bowker to associate themselves with that sort of program.

Keep up the great work, Konrath!! As a new author (whose a technology-driven engineer and consultant)... I'm fascinated by the whiplash responses by some in the industry to the technology changes that are occurring.

My favorite quote was this one: "It went further, threatening that "on a worldwide basis", it "will not be entering into any new English-language business agreements with the Wylie Agency until this situation is resolved"